Anime’s uncreative, didn’t you know?

February 11, 2009 at 4:16 pm | Posted in Rants | 28 Comments
Tags: animu, kawaii desu, lolwaitwhat?, raeg, rant, tl;dr, wtf

Anime is so uncreative, don’t you agree?

Well, according to my applied art teacher that is. Warning, rant and real life is ahead.

So, I wanted to make a big silk square design. Okay, so the design kinda looks like Mariya from Maria†Holic’s OP (left), but hey it wasn’t identical. So I sketched it out and went over to show my teacher the design (She wants to look at them before someone does them). She takes one look at it and says “You can’t do that.” I give a blank stare and then ask why. Her reason? “Anime isn’t creative.”

EXCUSE ME? I guess it took a few minutes before it hit me she was serious in her remark and I finally said “Anime is creative”, to which she then tried to get herself out of the hole she had just dug in saying that “Oh well if I let you do this everyone else will want to do this too.” Referring to, I believe, the fact that she wants to finish up silk projects soon, and so if she lets me get away with my (OMGANIMU) silk design she would have to let everyone else do it if they wanted to. But she’s is ENTIRELY MISTAKEN. Not just in the anime is uncreative part, but in the fact that she SAID I could do the silk project. Because she said I can do it doesn’t mean everyone else can. I am in Honors Applied Art IV (Shh, I know it’s silly, an honors art class! xD), I should be alright to do the projects I please so long as she’s alright with me working on them. I am a honors student in a sense.

Back to the main point. Anime isn’t creative? What a load of BS. She judged the design purely on the eyes. She didn’t even take a look at it past a first glance. Basically anyone reading this knows that anime is defiantly not uncreative. That’s another thing, me and a friend were talking about this whole ordeal and she brought up something a kid in our class said to us once (I guess I had been zoning out or something).

“Don’t you get bored using the same cookie cutter design every time?”

So drawing in anime style is just a cookie cutter? Despite the probably millions of different, but still anime style, eyes? Despite the thousands of ways to color a piece, to ink a piece, to design the piece, to [insert part of artwork of your choice here]? While I will agree, some people may use a cookie cutter theory, but does it look like everyone does? Plus, if we’re talking about it that way, isn’t every style just a big, vague, cookie cutter? What makes drawing in anime style any different from drawing in any other style?

I guess it’s just because them stupid narutards, making their stupid recolored screencap arts. (I’ll give whoever made the one to the right a little credit. At least whoever it was redrew some lines!)

In the end, my teacher has outright insulted my drawing style in all of three words. Congratulations, that is a neeeeew recoooord! Thankfully for her, she’s a teacher and I won’t outright eat them alive without an opportunity in which I will not receive a detention or end up failing the class. Had she not been a teacher, I defiantly have enough to beat down her argument.

If anime’s so uncreative, why are there thousands of series all about different characters, different stories, different [insert story element here]. If the style’s so uncreative, then why can I name piles of series that all have different ways of drawing the “anime style”? Why is it suddenly “not art” the minute you notice the eyes aren’t done realistically? My friend mentioned in our rant/discussion that “Picasso would argue being able to draw outside ‘realistic’ human form is a higher level of thinking”. She also stated that “With enough practice anyone can draw realistically as long as the can copy it”. Which is entirely true.

Example: I had to do this pencil drawing copying a celebrity’s picture. I picked one, and while it turned out decent, it was still just a copy. When I draw normally, that is, in anime style, I don’t need a reference. There are a few occasions I want a reference for outfits or a background, or in some cases the actual pose because I can’t figure it out, but that is an extremely small minority compared to the times I just draw from my own head.

Her statement is entirely correct. I rarely draw in realism, and yet I pulled off a rather decent realistic portrait because I copied it.

Also, bring in some of the designs the other people did. She had them look on the internet (at sites she had bookmarked) at silk projects done by other people. Guess what the kids did (With her permission!)? They printed out the design, traced it, and used it as their project. I’m not joking AT ALL. I’m sorry, but THAT is the most BASIC form of uncreativity out there. Ever. Anime uncreative? Bull shit. You tell me a design I made (for the most part) on my own is uncreative because of the EYES and yet someone who TRACES a design is completely creative despite the fact they did none of the design work, none of the color choices, none of the dimension choices, none of the work. They merely traced it and put it on the silk. And yet I’m the uncreative one?

You’ve GOT to be kidding me.

But I forgot, ALL anime is CUTE. And she HATES cute. Do’h! I must have forgotten! Cute is for MIDDLE SCHOOL. And yes, those are her words. I had enough trouble getting her to allow me to make a Dolfini metal keychain because she thought it was too cute. She then proceeded to say cute is for middle school. But hey, what do I know about art? I’m just a stupid girl who draws big eyes and big heads and has a sheet to trace for every drawing I make, didn’t you know?

Sarcasm aside, I’m really getting sick of her crap reasons for why I can’t do something. I can point out just about everything I used for project ideas came from something in anime style. My Color wheel: Three instruments (Trumpet, Violin, Piano), inspired by the Prismriver Sisters from the ANIME styled game Touhou. My pillow design shape (used to create a design for the front of the pillow): The Player Pin design from the ANIME styled game The World Ends With You/Subarashiki Kono Sekai. My metal peice: Dolfini from the ANIME styled game PangYa!. But because their eyes were not big and animu like (Or in some cases, not there) and thus (most) of them passed by without another word. What makes Mariya any different?

Oh right, the eyes. That’s why.

Because of the eyes, it’s not creative. Because of the eyes, it’s not art. Because of the eyes it’s not good. Because of the eyes, because of the eyes.

I’m so sick of everyone focusing so much on the eyes and saying they don’t like it purely for that reason. I know the focus of the anime style is the eyes, but seriously. If that’s all it takes to make it uncreative, well then what a screwed up world we have here.

So let’s list all the things my teacher hates/calls uncreative just for fun!

Letters in a piece of work.
Hearts in a piece of work.
Cute, because it’s SO middle school.
Anime, because it fits all the above criteria!
The word “can’t” (It’s apparently not in her dictionary)

Take note how MUCH creativity anime has formed. Without anime, I HIGHLY doubt the cosplayers would have learned to sew. They have to not only figure out how to sew the main outfit, but they have to figure out how to make the partially-physics-defiying portions of the outfit and MAKE THEM WORK. That requires piles of creativity and resourcfulness. Also, without anime I doubt many people who are drawing now would have even attempted to before. Okay, so some of the trace and some of them copy, but without anime would they have even tried? Probably not. FAN FICTION. So some of it’s crap and some of it’s brilliant, BUT IT’S STILL CREATIVITY. So what you didn’t create the characters, you still thought up the storyline! Anime has sparked so many ways to be creative into SO MANY PEOPLE, I cannot BELIEVE her reasoning for why I can’t do a design.

28 Comments

I am so…SHOCKED that your art teacher said that. =[ It’s a shame you couldn’t explain why there’s nothing wrong with it and why anime IS creative. Art teachers NEED to be open to different artforms, including anime.

And that’s weird when she said cute things is for middle schoolers. O_o I wouldn’t be surprised if something happened in her childhood that made her hate cute things. >_>

She shouldn’t have said anything to you, especially after letting those kids print and trace stuff. DX

And I agree with your last paragraph – for myself, if it wasn’t for anime (and manga too), my drawings would have never improved, my writing would have never improved, I would have never started to sew – I’m sure it’s the same story for others as well.

=\ I’m sorry that your art teacher said that to you.

Comment by trainerkelly— February 11, 2009 #
Lame. Why is she teaching art if she’s just going to try to curtail her students’ creativity? D:

Comment by Shizuka— February 11, 2009 #
It sucks that your teacher wouldn’t let you do the project because of her biases.

Unfortunately, I don’t think those biases are completely unfounded. Now before everyone grabs the pitchforks and torches, hear me out.

Creativity isn’t dead in anime – but it isn’t as prevalent as I’d like. Anime, like other entertainment industries tends to recycle proven elements a lot. For every ground breaking show (say, Kaiba) there are half a dozen generic romantic comedies, tournament style fighting shows, and video game adaptations. Not to say that any of these things are necessarily bad, just that most of it doesn’t add anything we haven’t sen before.

Even Maria Holic is basically a recycling of the harem genre, with the perverted, wimpy lead a female instead of a male, and some cross-dressing and lesbianism thrown in as well – None of this is new, although the mixing of the genres is refreshing.

The other thing is the “anime art style”. The fact that there is such a thing depresses me. Anime/manga artists (like other comic artists) stylized their work to make it more expressive, energetic, and/or easier to draw. In other words, each artists should have their own unique style I think. Unfortunately, a lot of anime/manga art seems to be specifically trying to copy what’s come before to appeal to the masses.

Okay, I’m done ranting.

Comment by Ian K— February 11, 2009 #
So much applause is deserved here. A completely well-deserved and wonderfully proven rant. I only wish your teacher could have read it.

Ugh…it just makes me wonder if art teachers all over are like this. I got to see another teacher giving the same attitude to my friend back when I was a Sophomore. I went with her to drop off her sketchbook after school and the teacher flipped through it (very quickly) and then asked her to do more over the weekend because everything looked too similar. Even though kids in that class apparently got away with actually copying the same thing on different pages. Because drawing the same thing is allowed if you’re improving it every time. But my friend improving her own style that happens to be anime-ish and include the big eyes isn’t allowed because it’s…anime.

It was a sketchbook and they were told to draw whatever they wanted, just to keep drawing so they could get better. It’s not even like my friend just drew anime stuff. She drew all sorts of things. But she had to redo the pages that had anime.

I mean, I get that people who draw like that have similar looking characters and stuff, but even that doesn’t make it uncreative. I know I’ve seen famous paintings where people just look the same. Isn’t creativity just based on the different things you can do with your skill? Not based around what someone else thinks looks good.

Ugh. I really hope all art teachers aren’t like that. And you are certainly right about all the creativity anime does cause (cosplaying, fanfiction, and so on. Ignoring that some people wouldn’t develop the skills to draw at all if they didn’t like the style of anime…making that teacher have less students). It’s too bad you can’t point out all of that stuff to your teacher, because it’s not worth getting on her bad side.

But seriously…ugh. So adding “uncreative” onto the pile of bad things about anime fans. We’re all uncreative, childish perverts. How nice.

Comment by FuyuMaiden— February 11, 2009 #
@Ian K: I completely see where your coming from, and agree with just about everything you’ve said there. I really can’t argue with anything you said.

@FuyuMaiden: That really sucks for your friend. Love how it’s “draw what you want” but the unspoken rule being “but it can’t be anime”. [/moar sarcasm]

“I only wish your teacher could have read it.”
^Thankfully, a friend (Not the same one mentioned in the post) told me that I should print the post out and use it as my explanation of the event as well as reasoning behind my annoyance to the head of the art department. I’ve at least accomplished the printing out part. xD

I can’t believe I sat on this whole ordeal for nearly four years. I look back and realize that it’s just sort of been sitting there every year and it’s just these three words that just hit me so hard, and being stubborn like always, I will not let this just pass off as something she said. Granted I’m a senior and it really won’t matter for me so much, as I said, I’m stubborn and am going to prove my point. Be it to the teacher herself or to the head of the department, I WILL make my point. :D

Comment by NyaChan— February 11, 2009 #
Too lazy to log in from my psp and I need to stop thinking of things to say a second too late. xD

@ian k while I do agree as I said above, I highly doubt my teacher knows about anime past big names and stereotypes. So while your points remain true, the chances of a regular ol’ art teacher knowing that are slim to none.

Comment by NyaChan— February 11, 2009 #
Wtf, anime is not creative man.

Comment by tj han— February 12, 2009 #
It’s about as creative as Britney Spears’ pop songs.

Comment by tj han— February 12, 2009 #
@NyaChan
What you say is true. Perhaps if anime was more innovative in general, it would be seen differently in our culture – but perhaps not, the distributing companies are going to focus on what they feel will make money, and cartoons in general have a hard time being seen as anything but kiddy fare. Oh well, I can dream.

Comment by Ian K— February 12, 2009 #
I like the style of most anime, which is why I keep watching them.

Comment by metalsnakezero— February 12, 2009 #
I also dislike how people judge the visual aspects of this genre. In my art teacher’s eyes, all anime girls look similar and all anime guys look ugly. He does like it when artists (I mean artists who design the look and illustrate for mangas, light novels, and visual novels) put effort into details, but the thing is that people see anime art as this simple thing that all look the same.

The sad thing is that most people who like anime just can’t draw and only add to the problem (seriously, I’m friends of many people who go to the closest anime club, people who draw have no concept for the human anatomy or the laws of physics).

Anyway, I myself rarely honestly like the art of a certain anime, but I do often find Japanese artists to be amazingly talented. Unfortunately there will be people who see it as anime art, even if it has nothing to do with any anime series at all. Sigh* it’s all because of the eyes…

Comment by Choux— February 12, 2009 #
Welcome to the art world.

Sadly, a vast majority of older art teachers still consider anime to be a cookie cutter design and will restrict students from drawing in any style that might be perceived to be “anime” regardless of similarities to any other anime style. I understand their concern in many ways — namely the fear that students will use generic anime as a crutch and never learn artistic fundamentals such as realistic anatomy, etc, so in classes focusing on this, I can understand a ban. But if it’s a general sort of class, and hell, if it’s a silk design, I don’t really see an issue since the point of the assignment and class in general isn’t to build those kinds of skills.

If you pursue art as a career, it’s going to be a battle you fight for a long time. Thankfully, there do exist some teachers/professors that are more understanding of your passion and style, especially if you can prove that you do indeed know the fundamentals, but it’s just a fact that many people will write you off or come off as condescending if they see that you prefer to draw that way. :\

Comment by Kiri— February 13, 2009 #
When I was in college my art teacher yelled at me for drawing anime facial features instead of realistic ones…but I was like sorry I can’t suddenly draw realism when I’ve been drawing anime style for 4 years.

Comment by Hinano— February 13, 2009 #
Is it neccessary to be creative in art?
Perhaps you should ask your teacher to do something creative, if she can.
The art world, as extensive as it is, makes the art curve much harder.

Comment by Edward— February 14, 2009 #
Touhou really does not have as much in common with anime as you think it does, aside from the style of artwork, which is a very superficial connection to begin with, and perhaps moe appeal.

Implying that musical instruments are somehow intrinsically anime in nature is like saying the same of generic furniture or household appliances, and is a pretty flawed argument.

Cosplaying is just another form of copying, which you, yourself, stated was not creative. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and all that. Or in this case, showing off one’s rabid fangirl/boyism.

I recommend that you go and watch something from the 80’s and 90’s period. In all likelihood you will soon come to realize that just about every specific genre of anime that exists today has already been completely defined for the past decade or two, and that almost nothing truly groundbreaking has been produced post 2000.

Comment by Haborym— February 20, 2009 #
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Pingback by Missing Link » Arkisto » Anime - luovaa vai ei?— March 18, 2009 #
Well, I disagree with what your teacher said, but I know what she meant to say.

1) Yes, anime is and can be absolutely creative. Not arguing that issue.

2) The point your teacher is making is the you creating another anime image isn’t going to teach you anything. What the teacher want’s you to do is move out of your comfort zone. The fact that you can do anime (And let’s face it, being in a high school art class, you’re going to be seeing a LOT of people doing it) is fine, but you aren’t really learning anything by doing so.

Leaving your comfort zone is the time where you start paying attention to what you are doing when you try to get a result that is different then what you are used to. It’s like if you have been a landscape artist, doing all these harbor scenes, and someone tells you you MUST Paint a Portrait of a Volkswagon in a Glass Elevator. You have to approach it completely different then what you have grown accustomed to. You become a little more careful, and you start to think in different ways, and that helps improve not only the new art, but all your old styles as well.

Well, in any case, it’s more about getting out of your comfort zone, then about what you are doing. Don’t let her discourage you, and don’t be afraid to try something different, also. Be passionate about all the work you do.

Comment by Kensan_Oni— April 5, 2009 #
D: thats not a good art teacher, a proper teacher should accept your style and let you go with it! besides, cute is good XD

And btw, which anime is this image from D:

Comment by Corey— April 10, 2009 #
What a bitch! THANKYOU for sharing this with us, I think that teacher should just…. damn, I mean, I’m speechless! We think that teacher deserves to be fired for destroying the very meaning of the word creativity with three little words!

Comment by Kura— April 16, 2009 #
oh yeah, my friend wanted me to insert her own response: It’s not a real art teacher! It’s creature called a crit-tic. It looks at you, talks and slowly drains away you life force! It must be squashed!!! It is evil and must be squished as soon as possible!!!

Comment by Kura— April 16, 2009 #
Dang, I had a similer post in my lj but more about foreign artists working in anime/manga like styles: http://cetriya.livejournal.com

Comment by laurie— May 15, 2009 #
-using anime as a medium to complain
-art class is about all concepts of art, not just one, if you want to draw (the way you worded it)anime(since anime is supposed to be animation) take a “how to draw/sketch manga” class if you don’t have one buy some books and practice at home
-most everything you said about your teachers preferences sounded like assumptions, instead of confronting her head on as to why…
-…if your in high school then debate with your teacher, a teacher who cant take criticism(in high school) fails as a guide/teacher, and has no right to lead…
-…if its something you feel strongly about then get suspended for talking your mind, if not then why complain somewhere else? there’s only futility in it, nothing will change…
-if your only going to talk about the drawing methods then your title/rant is very misleading
-all your describing to me is the appearance of your drawings, wheres the depth, the story, the thoughts that go through the viewers minds, art extends outside the concepts of simply drawing, but…
-…in no way am i agreeing with your teacher since that would require a huge assumption, its that i don’t see where your definition of art lies

Comment by yubisakimilktea(shiki)— June 19, 2009 #
Honestly, I thought your little “rant” was complete bullshit. Especially your point saying “anyone can draw realistic.” That was total bullshit. I draw realistic, and I’ve been practicing since I was nine years old. It’s hard to get the shading and the proportions correct. Whereas, if you draw anime, proportions and shading do not exist. Anyone can draw a stupid anime piece in five minutes. You put the mouth too far off to the side? Oh, that’s okay, they’re making an irritated face now! The eyes are too far up? Who cares, they’re surprised! You also said that realism is just copying pictures, and that anime is from the brain. Again, bullshit. You can also copy anime pictures *GASP*. Not everyone draws from their head, whether they draw anime or realism. And not all realism is just copying, just what you do in art class is. For my pictures, I will sketch out a pose, sometimes posing for a camera and copying my pose. Then I will find references for different aspects, such as textures, pieces of the background, clothing styles, etc. One realistic drawing I did had nearly fifty different references for different parts of the drawing. Then, the finished product looked absolutely nothing like any of my references, many of which were my own photography. You want to try and tell me that ANYONE can draw realistically again? It takes A LOT of work. Even copying a picture of a celebrity takes up to 18 hours for me. If I tried to “anime-ify” said pictures, I would be done in five minutes.
In fact, this is a great example (all credit goes to the artist):

http://Sabishii-Hana.deviantart.com/art/Reality-91318233

Now which side do you think took more time, skill, and creativity? Which side required the artist to think about facial proportions, light sources, and shading? Which side is more than a few lines?
If you don’t like people knocking on your drawing style, then don’t shoot down other styles, especially ones that take more than an ounce of skill.

It’s not just the eyes, either, as you seem to think. That is a big part of it, yes, but not the sole reason anime is not creative. There’s the fact that there is little to no detail and shading. Go look at the deviantArt website. Most of the stuff on that site is now anime. And it ALL. LOOKS. THE. SAME. The faces are not distinguishable. At all. Just because there are millions of different anime shows out there does not make it creative. Obviously since there are millions of anime shows, it is far from creative. Most anime shows are pretty much the same thing over and over again. Oh, but the guys are SO KAWAII, I forgot. ;)

Comment by Anime is NOT creative— July 29, 2009 #
last poster,”Anime is NOT creative”
-to some it doesn’t take as much skill as you claim, there are an exceptional few with natural talent, to the point one can say your born being or not being able too (i remember articles about how ppl are born with certain amounts of creativity and/or artistic skill, don’t quote me about it since i don’t have any articles/refrences and are far to lazy to search for…)
-anime(japanese art style) takes a certain kind of skill just like every other kind of art, its not something your (almost ever) born with(yes even most naturals have to refine there skills), and drawing a simple face is something everyone does, dont compare it to a complicated (manga) art style’s used by:
Akumatsu, Ken(later vol of negima),
Hoshino, Katsura (d.gray man),
Suu, Minazuki (i guess ill use Judas),
Miyano, Tomochika (Yubisaki Milk Tea, fantasic series and art work,
you can see it improve as the series goes, as well in negima),
Satou, Daisuke (High School of the Dead),
ect ect
-you can bash anime/manga for being simplistic all you want, but in practical terms, anime/manga would take months to release a single chapter/episode under that criteria, not counting expenses. anime/manga “are” gradually improving and integrating more and more details, such as,
Kara no Kyuokai (dont know the directors name),
Shinkai, Makoto (Voices of a Distant Star, The Pace Promised in Our
Earlier Days, 5 Centimeters per Second) i dont think you can
complain about any of these 3’s,
Miyazaki Hayao (for a popular example),
ect
-i could also bash all your examples, in the same way you bashed anime, to professional works, but as an artist you should already know its not the detail or strokes that makes it great, its the passion, feeling, dedication, and meaning(?) in the art,
-my overall point is, your bashing anime too hard, if you want perfection then don’t expect it from anime(that is if you can pend down “perfect art”), if a lot of details and shading makes it better then look else where(its not going to be like that for awhile),
as well one art style is “never” to be used to insult or demean another one, there are different art styles for a reason and there not meant to be used to insult one another, probably what i most wanted to say,
that and, “are you sure your not mistaking creativity with originality?”:
original concept, no such thing exist anymore(don’t quote my original comment)
creativity, i see it all the time, you just gotta read/watch more manga/anime, quick example “Toradora” a creative remix on an unoriginal concept

Comment by yubisakimilktea(shiki)— July 30, 2009 #
Anything “_____ – Style” does not belong in an art class. The fact that you can put your art under a headline of ANY sort of title is uncreative be it anime or disney or picasso-esque.

You watched anime, liked it, decided to draw “like that”, learned to draw within the anime style. this means you are using the same techniques again and again. I know many art teachers personally, and the reason the get a headache when they see anime is that students doing this style REFUSE to try anything different because its not “their style!”. Every drawing and painting is “ANIME STYLE”, without branching out. Art class is to learn stuff you don’t know, not do the things you already are doing.

Adhering to a style is restrictive. You are only making something to look pretty or cute, or maybe even to tell a story. But you are only drawing it that way for the sake of anime, no other reason. Sure you can convey emotion through the face and eyes, but…there is nothing extra conveyed. Anime is great, I love it, but only in the sense of story telling, that’s it.

When doing real art, you think about EVERY LITTLE ASPECT, if you’re doing it right. How is this going to look? WHY? What colors? WHY? What setting, tone, composition, proportion etc? WHY?? Not just drawing hair and face and eyes in the same way, AGAIN, just because its your style. And not even YOUR style, but ANIMES style, which you TOOK.

Basquiat inspired alot of my art, and at first it looked a lot like his, but now, it looks NOTHING like it, because once I learned it, I moved on, I didn’t stay painting in “BASQUIAT STYLE”, or else my art teacher, too, would have looked at MY sketch book and said “re-do these pages”.

ANIME IS ART, THE EMOTIONS AND STORIES AND PERSONAL TOUCHES ARE CREATIVE, BUT ALL IN ALL USING ANY SORT OF BORROWED “STYLE” IN GENERAL IS UNCREATIVE.

Comment by The DV— September 13, 2009 #
Oh, and I forgot to add, heart are INSANELY uncreative. Maybe in cartoons their ok, but in art, for the sake of art???

“Let’s see I want to convey love, or romatic feelings what should I use, I know I HEART SHAPE!” WOW. very creative! How long did you think to come up with motif for such a powerful emotion? Do you use that giant sweat-drop in anime too? Or the shaded-out eye region for negative feelings? I have not even seen your art, but this is what im talking about, burrowed symbolism! Or when an amime charactor gets upset and their mouth outstrecthes their face, or the fall to the ground limbs askew like dead bugs!

In ART, you would hope to convey those feelings without having to shove it in the viewers face with HEARTS. “Ohhh, I get it, their in love because of the hearts, their stressed because of the sweat!” It’s even worse if those hearts were floating above a persons head, or if the words you used were in a speech bubble.

Words in art are uncreative because it means you need something other than the imagery to convey your meaning. Drawing art should be more than a one-panel anime comic, some character, with sparkly eyes, hands clasped, hearts coming out, world bubble “OH WOW! I LOVE IT!” egh.

REUSED SYMBOLS, FORCE-FEEDING THE AUDIENCE WITH TEXT.

OHHH, I think next time my paninting is trying to convey anger, i’ll put fire in the eyes of my subject and right F–K in big RED letters (BECAUSE RED MEANS ANGRY :D ) right in it! Maybe even satan horns and an evil grin. Wow, NOBODY HAS EVER DONE THIS BEFORE.

*FACE……………PAAAAAAAAALM!!!!*

Comment by The DV— September 13, 2009 #
Just look at how much of deviantart is anime style. Anime artists are becoming a dime a dozen.

Comment by The DV— September 13, 2009 #
I remember when signing up for classes for my freshman year of high school I wanted to skip art 1 and go right into art 2. My middle school art teacher seemed pretty unsure if I had the talent to go into the next level, and the high school teacher looked at my portfolio and saw some fan art and mostly original art of my characters. She warned me that copyrighted work isn’t tolerated. While it’s popular to draw fan art, she wanted us to use our creativity to make our own characters if we were going to draw characters.
Over the years I’ve developed more and more of them to draw and incorporate them into a lot of my art projects. Also, I’ve reached out and gone from limiting myself to a strictly anime/manga style to a more realistic style and any other style I feel appropriate for whatever I’d like to draw.
Anime has been given a pretty bad reputation by those who don’t appreciate it or take one look and declare all of it the same.
People tend to argue that anime isn’t creative enough or that it’s all the same.
Look at the realistic paintings and portraits. If your eyes are so untrained that you think anime looks the same, do all the realistic portraits look the same? What if you take a look at the traditional Japanese woodblock prints? Do those all look the same? Are they not art because they aren’t creative?
You don’t even need a trained eye to see the differences between Astro Boy, Yami no Matsuei, Fullmetal Alchemist and Tsubasa’s different styles in art. You could have something from Death Note to something like Lucky Star. Majority of the styles are dramatically different and there are anime styles that are a lot more realistic than others.
Personally, I find that you having drawn an anime character that looks like another character isn’t all that creative, HOWEVER, I have been down that road and after drawing a character based off of another character, I’ve been able to evolve my character to look different from the original inspiration and it also helps with creativity, I believe. In all honesty, making your own character inspired from someone else’s should not be a problem. In an art 4 project, I would find it inappropriate to use a character that hasn’t evolved much from the beginning of their creation because there may be a possible copyright issue. However, this is what we’ve been taught at my school and I’m sure yours is completely different.
I would love to know what kind of art IV teacher
1. Does not approve of anime/manga in art projects, especially if it is not fan art
2. Requires to look over what you plan to do for your project instead of let you just do your project
I’m also in Art IV and we share the class with Art AP and our teacher NEVER makes us ask permission before doing a project. She also never turns down anime unless it is not purely your own idea (which can take time to get used to, especially if you start off drawing mostly fan art.)
Overall, how you draw or what style of art you prefer to use should not say whether you’re an artist or not. It’s not if you can draw better than Rumiko Takahashi or paint as well as DaVinci. It’s about how you chose to think outside the box, express yourself, push your limits and take risks. It’s about getting an idea or opinion out there or making a statement for people to hear or see.
I think your teacher needs to do some research and talk to other artists and art teachers about anime being a form of art.
This is a lot like previous art movements as well, such as cubism, impressionism, found objects, photography and other large movements. For a while the public finds something wrong with it and bashes it, but even if someone else doesn’t appreciate that style, it doesn’t change whether it’s art or not.

Comment by Riokku— September 14, 2009 #